Yoshio said he would pay as much as 15,000 yen for a new pair of basketball shoes, but I thought that was quite expensive.
Source: tatoeba (20032)
Basketball
/ˈbɑːs.kɪt.bɔːl/
Synonyms for "basketball" (17 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: ball, ball game, basket, basketball analytics, basketball game.
- Sentence evidence is available for basketball, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from derived_reverse, opengloss, wordnet.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "basketball".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "basketball"
Keep "basketball" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "basketball" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "basketball", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "basketball" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
8 entriesMore specific
7 entriescollege basketballmini basketballplayer tracking analyticsprofessional basketballshot efficiency modelingsize 7 basketballstreet basketball
Collocations
7 entriesbasketball courtbasketball gamebasketball hoopbasketball jerseybasketball playerbasketball seasonprofessional basketball
Inflections
1 entriesDerivations
2 entriesTranslations
142 translations across 107 languages.
Albanian
1 entries- basketboll noun (the sport)
Arabic
1 entries- كُرَة اَلسَّلَّة noun (the sport)
Aragonese
1 entries- balonzesto noun (the sport)
Armenian
1 entries- բասկետբոլ noun (the sport)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
1 entries- ܐܣܦܹܝܪ ܣܵܠܵܐ noun (the sport)
Asturian
1 entries- baloncestu noun (the sport)
Azerbaijani
1 entries- basketbol noun (the sport)
Basque
1 entries- saskibaloi noun (the sport)
Belarusian
1 entries- баскетбо́л noun (the sport)
Bengali
1 entries- বাস্কেটবল noun (the sport)
Bulgarian
1 entries- баскетбо́л noun (the sport)
Burmese
1 entries- ဘတ်စကက်ဘော noun (the sport)
Catalan
2 entries- basquetbol noun (the sport)
- bàsquet noun (the sport)
Cebuano
1 entries- basketbol noun (the sport)
Central Dusun
1 entries- buul bakul noun (the sport)
Cherokee
1 entries- ᏔᎷᏣ ᎠᎳᏍᎦᎶᏗ noun (the sport)
Chinese
1 entries- 籃球 /篮球 noun (the sport)
Chinese Cantonese
1 entries- 籃球 /篮球 noun (the sport)
Chinese Mandarin
1 entries- 籃球 /篮球 noun (the sport)
Chuvash
1 entries- баскетбол noun (the sport)
Crimean Tatar
1 entries- basketbol noun (the sport)
Czech
1 entries- basketbal noun (the sport)
Danish
1 entries- basketball noun (the sport)
Dutch
1 entries- basketbal noun (the sport)
Esperanto
3 entries- basketbalo noun (the sport)
- korbopilkado noun (the sport)
- korbopilko noun (the sport)
Estonian
2 entries- korvpall noun (the sport)
- koss noun (the sport)
Faroese
1 entries- kurvabóltur noun (the sport)
Finnish
2 entries- koripallo noun (the sport)
- koripalloilu noun (the sport)
French
3 entries- ballon-panier noun (the sport)
- basket-ball noun (the sport)
- basketball noun (the sport)
Friulian
1 entries- bale tal zei noun (the sport)
Galician
1 entries- baloncesto noun (the sport)
Georgian
1 entries- კალათბურთი noun (the sport)
German
1 entries- Basketball noun (the sport)
Greek
2 entries- καλαθοσφαίριση noun (the sport)
- μπάσκετ noun (the sport)
Gujarati
1 entries- બાસ્કેટ બોલ noun (the sport)
Haitian Creole
1 entries- baskètbòl noun (the sport)
Hebrew
1 entries- כַּדּוּרְסַל noun (the sport)
Hindi
2 entries- बास्केटबाल noun (the sport)
- बास्केटबॉल noun (the sport)
Hungarian
1 entries- kosárlabda noun (the sport)
Icelandic
1 entries- körfubolti m körfuknattleikur noun (the sport)
Ido
2 entries- basketbalo noun (the sport)
- korbobalono noun (the sport)
Indonesian
1 entries- bola basket noun (the sport)
Interlingua
2 entries- basket noun (the sport)
- basketball noun (the sport)
Irish
1 entries- cispheil noun (the sport)
Italian
4 entries- basket noun (the sport)
- palla a spicchi noun (the sport)
- pallacanestro noun (the sport)
- pallacesto noun (the sport)
Japanese
4 entries- バスケ noun (the sport)
- バスケットボール noun (the sport)
- 篭球 noun (the sport)
- 籠球 noun (the sport)
Kazakh
1 entries- баскетбол noun (the sport)
Khmer
2 entries- កីឡាបាល់បោះ noun (the sport)
- បាល់បោះ noun (the sport)
Komi-Zyrian
1 entries- кудсяр noun (the sport)
Korean
3 entries- 농구 noun (the sport)
- 롱구 noun (the sport)
- 배스킷볼 noun (the sport)
Kyrgyz
1 entries- баскетбол noun (the sport)
Lakota
2 entries- tȟabškátapi noun (the sport)
- tȟabʼóiȟpeyapi noun (the sport)
Lao
1 entries- ບານບ້ວງ noun (the sport)
Latin
1 entries- canistrilūdium noun (the sport)
Latvian
1 entries- basketbols noun (the sport)
Ligurian
1 entries- ballabanastra noun (the sport)
Lithuanian
1 entries- krepšinis noun (the sport)
Luxembourgish
1 entries- Basketball noun (the sport)
Lü
1 entries- ᦖᦱᧅᦟᦳᧄᦎᦱᧇ noun (the sport)
Macedonian
1 entries- кошарка noun (the sport)
Malay
1 entries- bola keranjang noun (the sport)
Malayalam
1 entries- ബാസ്ക്കറ്റ്ബോള് noun (the sport)
Maltese
1 entries- baskitbol noun (the sport)
Marathi
1 entries- बास्केटबॉल noun (the sport)
Mongolian
1 entries- сагсан бөмбөг noun (the sport)
Māori
1 entries- poitūkohu noun (the sport)
Navajo
1 entries- jooł nikídílniihí noun (the sport)
Northern Kurdish
1 entries- basketbol noun (the sport)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- basketball noun (the sport)
Norwegian Nynorsk
2 entries- basketball noun (the sport)
- korgball noun (the sport)
Occitan
1 entries- basket noun (the sport)
Ojibwe
1 entries- chi-bikwaakwad biinjwebinigem noun (the sport)
Persian
1 entries- بسکتبال noun (the sport)
Polish
3 entries- kosz noun (the sport)
- koszykówka noun (the sport)
- piłka koszykowa noun (the sport)
Portuguese
3 entries- basquete noun (the sport)
- basquetebol noun (the sport)
- bola ao cesto noun (the sport)
Romanian
2 entries- baschet noun (the sport)
- baschetbal noun (the sport)
Romansch
1 entries- ballabasket noun (the sport)
Russian
1 entries- баскетбо́л noun (the sport)
Samoan
1 entries- pasiketipolo noun (the sport)
Samogitian
1 entries- krepšėnis noun (the sport)
Scottish Gaelic
1 entries- ball-basgaid noun (the sport)
Serbo-Croatian
2 entries- kòšārka noun (the sport)
- ко̀ша̄рка noun (the sport)
Sicilian
1 entries- palla a canistru noun (the sport)
Sinhalese
1 entries- පැසිපන්දු noun (the sport)
Slovak
1 entries- basketbal noun (the sport)
Slovene
1 entries- košárka noun (the sport)
Spanish
3 entries- baloncesto noun (the sport)
- básquet noun (the sport)
- básquetbol noun (the sport)
Swahili
1 entries- mpira wa kikapu noun (the sport)
Swedish
2 entries- basket noun (the sport)
- korgboll noun (the sport)
Tagalog
1 entries- basketbol noun (the sport)
Tajik
1 entries- баскетбол noun (the sport)
Tamil
1 entries- கூடைப்பந்து noun (the sport)
Tatar
1 entries- баскетбол noun (the sport)
Telugu
1 entries- బాస్కెట్ బాల్ noun (the sport)
Thai
1 entries- บาสเกตบอล noun (the sport)
Tibetan
2 entries- དྲ་ཕས་སྤོ་ལོ། noun (the sport)
- སིལ་པོལ noun (the sport)
Turkish
2 entries- basket noun (the sport)
- basketbol noun (the sport)
Turkmen
1 entries- basketbol noun (the sport)
Ukrainian
2 entries- баскетбо́л noun (the sport)
- кошикі́вка noun (the sport)
Urdu
1 entries- باسکیٹ بال noun (the sport)
Uzbek
1 entries- basketbol noun (the sport)
Venetan
1 entries- bałacanestro noun (the sport)
Vietnamese
1 entries- bóng rổ noun (the sport)
Volapük
1 entries- bäsetaglöpäd noun (the sport)
Welsh
1 entries- pêl-fasged noun (the sport)
Yiddish
2 entries- באַסקעטבאָל noun (the sport)
- קוישבאָל noun (the sport)
Zazaki
1 entries- basketbol noun (the sport)
Sample sentences
15 total sentences available.
Mike doesn't practice basketball on Monday.
Source: tatoeba (32924)
Mike likes to play basketball.
Source: tatoeba (32934)
I play center in football and basketball.
Source: tatoeba (34339)
Showing 4 of 15 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "basketball"?
Closest matches include ball, ball game, basket, basketball analytics, basketball game.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "basketball"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.